


I'll Be Your Home

by watchthestars



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (Yuta is a sweetie tho), Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Anger, Eventual Happy Ending, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Hella mental disorders and learning to deal with them, I just don't know how to tag lol, M/M, OC is Yuta's sister, Recovery, Running Away, Slow Burn, There is a lot in this story, Yuta has anger issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-10-25 09:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17722478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watchthestars/pseuds/watchthestars
Summary: After a traumatic whirlwind of events, Nakamoto Yuta finds himself running away from home with his little sister. The two find refuge in a friend’s home, but now they have to figure out to live on their own in someone else’s house. At the same time, Yuta has to deal with the stresses of his senior year. This includes, but is not limited to, failing three classes, somehow getting tangled up in his friend’s weed business, having to lead his soccer team against the best team in the nation, and meeting his best friend’s foreign exchange student who he can’t seem to keep out of his mind. Oh, and he's still searching for something to call home.orYuta’s senior year is already fucking crazy and a pretty, bright-eyed Chinese boy isn’t doing him any favors.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Detailed descriptions of physical abuse and mentions of character death

On Nakamoto Yuta’s eighteenth birthday, he got kicked out of his home. Granted, it had to do with the fact that his father had been abusing him for as long as he could remember and today he actually decided to fight back. He supposed it wasn’t the worst reason to be kicked out, as it was mostly justified.

 

His dad, most likely drunk, stumbled into Yuta’s room at around three in the morning. Immediately, the old man had started screeching for Yuta to get up, demanding that the house was a mess and that it was Yuta’s job as the oldest child to make sure that the house was clean before all the adults got home. 

 

Yuta had panicked the moment he woke, sitting up as fast as he could to try and decrease the odds of his father actually dragging him down the stairs to make him clean. He had also been met with a cloud of confusion, however, as he clearly remembered that he and his younger sister had made sure to clean up the downstairs before their father got home. (They had probably left a magazine or something astray, something that was just noticeable enough for their father to punish them for). 

 

“Father, I…” Yuta had started to explain, attempting to blink fast enough for his vision to focus. However, his father didn’t allow him time to finish. The old man had reached towards Yuta, grabbing him harshly by the arm and forcing him out of bed. Yuta stumbled out, still struggling to wake up, before he was struck with a sickening thought. 

 

Yuta was shirtless, as he usually slept. When he was angry, his father normally would come banging at his door, giving Yuta twenty seconds (Yes, his father counted to twenty before barging in) and Yuta had always had enough time to put a shirt on, so he wouldn’t get caught. Except for now.  So Yuta prayed instantly, hoping…  _ please don’t see it, please don’t see it… _

 

“Is that a fucking tattoo?” 

 

Shit. 

 

It was, in fact, a tattoo. Yuta had thought that maybe his father wouldn’t see it, as it was just two small numbers on his ribs. 95, it read. Taeyong, Johnny, and Yuta had forced Kun to give them shitty stick-and-poke tattoos that would somehow solidify their friendship as the 95 Line. However, at the moment, Yuta felt sick with regret that her ever agreed to it in the first place. 

 

Yuta’s father was an extremely traditional kind of guy. He despised any type of body modification like tattoos or piercings (Yuta still painfully remembers the day that his sister came home with her ears pierced and he had to watch his father beat the absolute shit out of her, and the moment Yuta stood up for her, he got the shit beat out of him too). 

 

At this point, Yuta just shut his eyes and braced for what was coming. It was the kind of thing you grew used to, an abusive parent. Yuta walked on tiptoes in his own house, he never spoke to his father unless spoken to, and he would rush home after soccer practice, having to do chores as fast as he could before his father got home and found some good reason to beat him. Sometimes, he would even sleep in the same bed as his little sister because she was too frightened of their own father to sleep by herself. 

 

Soon, a sharp punch met Yuta’s jaw, sending him reeling onto the bed with a sputter. His legs, since he had just woken up, weren’t strong enough to help him stand, and his knees soon hit the floor as well. He grasped onto his bed sheets, weakly attempting to pull himself to his feet so his father wouldn’t start kicking him and break one of his ribs again. Once Yuta got to his feet though, his father had shoved him back on the ground and did, in fact, start kicking him in the gut. It took everything within Yuta not to grab his father’s feet and bring him down too.

 

Physically, Yuta knew he was strong. He was the captain of the school’s soccer team, and he took weight training classes as well. One time, he punched a watermelon and put a hole in it first try. Logically, he knew he could probably win in a fight against his dad, a drunk 40-year-old Japanese man with bad hips.

 

However, Yuta had never attempted to do so. He would verbally stand up to his dad, screaming in his face whenever things finally became too much. In all honesty, Yuta feared the day that he would have to physically stand up to his dad. After dealing with eighteen years of violence and pent up aggression, Yuta feared that if he got physical, he would end up killing his own father.

 

He didn’t know what changed tonight. Maybe it was the fact that his father hadn’t even come home for his birthday all day, but in the middle of the night he decided to burst in and beat the shit out of him, possibly as some sort of fucked up birthday present! 

 

Yuta and his sister, Hana, had celebrated by themselves. It was honestly quite sad. Hana had kindly brought home a cupcake from the bakery she worked at. She had profusely apologized, saying that if she had enough money she would’ve bought him an actual gift. But Yuta didn’t care, he really didn’t. As long as his sister was with him, as long as they were together and had each other, he was perfectly fine. 

 

Living like they did, Yuta had almost been forced to become a protective older brother. He tried to talk to Hana about everything and anything, about her friends, about her school work, and about how she was feeling. He always gave her a ride to wherever she wanted (Yuta did, surprisingly, have a car. It most likely had to do with the fact that his father preferred when his children were completely out of sight). He adored his sister, and he couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad ever happening to her. 

 

And maybe that’s where Yuta’s outburst had come from. Now that he was eighteen, he was struck with the painful realization that he would soon been leaving home for good. And Yuta leaving home explicitly meant one thing; Hana would be alone in that house with their father. Yuta knew that the only way that situation ended could be bad. She was only sixteen, and their father being traditional had led to Hana having less rights than Yuta did at her age. She wasn’t allowed to drive anywhere, and her chores mainly consisted of doing laundry, the dishes, and working at the bakery. 

 

(Here’s another fun fact, as if you didn’t already think Yuta’s father was gross enough. The old man forced Hana to work at the bakery and give almost 80 percent of her paycheck to him, leaving her with thirty dollars for working twenty hours a week if she was lucky.)

 

Yuta knew that he and Hana couldn’t stay here any longer. He didn’t know if he subconsciously had always known that this day was coming, or if he had realized it in the middle of his father kicking him harshly in the stomach.

 

Yuta gulped, sucking in a harsh breath of air before he did what he did best; doing something without thinking. 

 

Yuta reached his arms out as best as he could, having to struggle around the intense pain of his father’s foot bashing into his side. He grabbed onto his father’s foot, with such strong force that his knuckles were instantly white. He yanked the older man down by pulling his foot out from under him, and the second Yuta felt his father hit the floor next to him, he knew he had to act fast.

 

He scrambled onto his knees, somehow managing to focus enough to get his fists to meet his father’s face. Yuta didn’t care about consequences at this point; he  _ had  _ to make sure that his father was unconscious or else he wouldn’t be able to get out of the house without a couple broken bones. 

 

Beneath him, he noticed his father had either bit his lip or he was actually hitting hard enough to draw blood from his mouth. It spilled out past his lips, and Yuta had a sick feeling of satisfaction at his father being the one getting hurt. 

 

Yuta kept hitting and punching until he felt his mind and his hands and everything go numb, he kept hitting until he felt his father fall limp, until Japanese swears stopped spilling out of his lips, until he came back to reality and stared down at the sight before him.

 

His father laid there, blood spilling over his lips and onto Yuta’s bedroom floor. Bruises had already started to spring, the skin of his father’s face blossoming with red and slight purple. 

 

Yuta gulped and licked his lips. Fuck. 

 

He kept his eyes locked on his father’s figure as he pushed himself to his feet with his weak, probably damaged, hands. Yuta was shaking, badly. But he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep inhale, before turning and starting out into the hallway.

 

The hallway was dark, considering it had to be around three in the morning. Yuta didn’t know what time it was. To be honest, so much adrenaline was running through Yuta’s veins that he couldn’t tell when, where, or who he was. 

 

He did, though, manage to stumble to the end of the hallway and use his bloody knuckles to gingerly knock on Hana’s door. 

 

He waited a moment, knowing that Hana probably didn’t know who it was.

 

Her quiet voice finally came, though. “Yuta, is that you?” She murmured, in a tearfully frightened voice. Yuta licked his lips, the thought coming back that their time to go was limited. He really didn’t know where they were gonna go, but he’d figure it out. 

 

“Yes, Hana. Come out.” Yuta whispered back. They didn’t have to whisper, but for some reason Yuta was afraid of letting his voice go any louder. 

 

The door opened after a second, and Hana was standing there. When Yuta saw the tears welled up in her eyes, he knew she must’ve heard the yelling and the fighting. He wanted to give her a hug, to cradle her in his arms and tell her that it was going to be okay. However, before he got the chance, she glanced down and saw the blood on Yuta’s hands.

 

Hana’s eyes instantly widened and she almost instinctively took a step back. She glared back up, making concerned eye contact with Yuta. 

 

Yuta thought hard, trying to come up with words to explain why he did what he did and the fact that they have to go  _ now.  _ “Hana, I--”

 

Yuta barely even got a word out before Hana interjected. “Did you kill him?” Her voice had risen a little bit, and the way she asked such a question nearly sent shivers down Yuta’s spine. It wasn’t a fearful question, no. The way she asked made it sound like she wouldn’t really mind if Yuta actually did.

 

“No.” Yuta responded. “He’s knocked out on my floor, and we have to leave before he wakes up.” He added, anticipating Hana to hesitate or ask more questions. 

 

However, Hana merely blinked. “Give me a minute to get some clothes together.” She simply told him, and Yuta felt a wave of relief wash over him at Hana understanding the situation without Yuta having to describe anything more. 

 

“Be in the car in no more than ten minutes.” Yuta told her. 

 

“Where are we going?” She asked. That was a complicated question. Wherever they were going, it had to be somewhere their father couldn’t find them and take them back. Not that he would be actively looking for them, though. Yuta thought for a moment, and came to a conclusion.

 

“Johnny’s house. His parents love me, and they know about how dad is. They won’t care.” Yuta shrugged, hoping that Johnny would be welcoming enough at three in the morning. 

 

Hana nodded, determination on her face as she turned and immediately started gathering her stuff together. Yuta knew his sister, and he knew that she would have no problem getting out of this house as fast as possible. 

 

Yuta turned away and headed back to his bedroom. The moment he stepped through the threshold, and caught sight of his father all bloody on the floor, he had to restrain himself from getting sick. However, he gulped down any regretful feelings and focused on figuratively and literally getting his shit together. 

 

He slipped a shirt on, finally, hoping that he wouldn’t have to look back at his tattoo anytime soon, already knowing that seeing it would bring back memories of getting kicked to the gut.

 

He pulled a duffle bag out of his closet and began rapidly shoving as many clothes as he could into it. He knew he could borrow his friend’s clothes, but considering he never wanted to come back here, he figured that he should take as much as he could. 

 

He dug through one of his drawers until he found one of his prized possessions, a piggy bank from his childhood that at this point contained close to a thousand dollars, built up from when he used to work as a babysitter and money that he had been pocketing from his father for years. Yuta knew that he had to take the piggy bank with him, considering it was one of the last things his mother had ever gifted him before she passed away. It meant everything to him.

 

Yuta carried on, packing clothes and possessions and memories all away in this duffle bag, which now seemed to serve as some sort of messenger of time. It had all the things that Yuta actually wanted to keep from this hellhole of a house, and also signified the joy of not having to return. 

 

After retrieving his toothbrush and skincare and hair products, Yuta zipped up the duffle bag and threw it over his shoulder. He glanced around the room, eyes hastily skimming over his father on the floor. He was actually leaving.

 

Yuta felt a whirlwind of emotions. He was happy, at least a little, that he was finally getting out of this house and away from his father’s hold on him. However, he couldn’t help but notice the tiny bit of guilt that swirled deep in his stomach, that told him that he was a sick person. He let his anger get the best of him. Yuta’s biggest insecurity was his temper and how aggressive he could get-- and that was just what had happened. He had allowed it to overwhelm him, he had let himself go and look where it got him. If Yuta hadn’t needed to leave this house and get Hana out, he was sure that he probably ended up beating his father to death.

 

Yuta shook his head, not wanting to get too in depth with his emotions, at least not right now. He had done what he needed to do, and he shouldn’t be guilty for what he did (And to be honest, he wasn’t really guilty for what he did, he was guilty for what he knew he could have done). 

 

Yuta exhaled, grabbing his phone from his nightstand, before turning away. 

 

The walk out of his room and down his stairs felt almost surreal, as if this was only something he could experience in a dream. But he knew this was real, he could feel his heart pulsating and he could see the blood on his hands. 

 

Speaking of the blood, Yuta took a quick stop in the kitchen to wash his hands off. He knew the blood on his hands may not be the best way to start explaining the story to Johnny and his family. 

 

As he was massaging his hands beneath the warm water, Yuta’s eyes drifted up to the picture frame on the counter next to the sink. He let himself break a small smile at the image.

 

It was the four of them. Yuta, Hana, their dad, and their mom. Yuta always sighed happily when he saw his mother’s face. She was extremely beautiful, and her graciously kind personality could be observed from any photo you saw of her. She always had a smile across her face, the kind that would inevitably cause you to crack a grin as well.

 

Yuta could vaguely remember the days when the four of them were a happy family. When his mother was still around, his father had been a respectable man. He was still traditional, and still a little strict, but nothing near what he was now. But he had to have had the aggression inside of him, didn’t he? At least, that was what Yuta thought. He had always pondered how a lady as lovely as his mother had ended up falling in love with a monster like his father. 

 

Yuta let out a sigh, reaching up to turn off the faucet. He heard Hana’s tiny, rushed footsteps coming down the stairs. She appeared in the kitchen with a suitcase and two other bags. She always had so much stuff with her, but Yuta didn’t care considering the fact that this was basically them moving out. 

 

“Let’s go, Yuta.” She nodded to him, somehow still sporting a smile in such a stressful time. Just like their mother.

 

Yuta flashed a smile back, pulling the car keys out of the kitchen drawer and heading out into the garage. His stomach was rumbling with an odd mixture of regret and glee.

 

When Yuta and Hana had all of their stuff shovelled into his car, they shared a knowing look. The kind of look that said ‘Holy shit, we are actually getting away from our abusive asshole of a father, and it might suck and we might suffer, but at least we are together’.

 

Yuta started the car, and opened the garage door, before pulling out. He looked back at the house one last time. And then, he pulled out of the driveway.

 

As Yuta began to drive towards the exit of the neighborhood, he cleared his throat. “Do you think Dad will care that we left?” Yuta asked, wanting insight from his sister.

 

Hana dryly laughed. “I think that’s the saddest part. He’ll wake up, and see us gone, and be thankful.” She made brief eye contact with Yuta, and as always, he knew she was right. 

 

He wished that something as messed up as that wasn’t true. He secretly wished he had someone to miss him back at home (Even though this place felt absolutely nothing like what a home should be). 

 

Yuta gulped, trying to keep his eyes focused on driving, trying to keep his thoughts from overwhelming him yet again. It was nearly impossible, considering how mixed his emotions were.

 

He didn’t know where they were going from here, but Yuta knew one thing for sure. 

 

He needed to find his true home.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping that prison of a house was step one, but Yuta had so much left to do to even get his life together, let alone finding somewhere he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically a filler. More important stuff next chapter including the introduction of Sicheng yayyy!! I hope y'all enjoy! (not proof read sorry)

As he drove, Yuta couldn’t help himself but get lost in the view of the stars. It was a habit of his. Anytime he was in the car at night, he always found himself staring off into the vastness of the night sky. He always thought the stars were the most beautiful thing in the entire world. The way that they glimmered no matter the circumstances. Yuta could have a horrible day, or an amazing one, and they’d still be up there. Shining as beautiful as ever. He wished the stars could be his home.

  


Yuta couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. He continuously glanced over at Hana. He absolutely felt love and appreciation for his sister, and he adored her company. But she didn’t feel like home.

  


Yuta shook his head and focused his eyes on the road. 

  


After Yuta and Hana had been in the car for around 10 minutes, Yuta was struck with the ingenious idea to actually  _ call  _ Johnny instead of just barging into his house at three in the morning. Yuta had done that once before, only to get a pillow to the face from Johnny, who had woken up convinced that Yuta was an intruder. 

  


Yuta  _ also  _ didn’t want to ring the doorbell or knock on the door and wake up Johnny’s parents. He knew that they had to get up early for work and he would feel extremely rude waking them up in the middle of the night. So, Yuta decided he’d just call Johnny. 

  


Yuta’s idea to actually be considerate and warn Johnny didn’t go well after seven calls went unanswered. Yuta had shrugged it off, explaining to Hana that he would just throw pebbles at Johnny’s window until the guy woke up. 

  


“And what if he doesn’t wake up?” Hana rose her brow, glancing over at her brother with her classic expression of ‘Yuta, this is probably a dumb idea’.

  


“I’ll use the key I have.” Yuta said as if that was the obvious response. 

  


Hana widened her eyes. “You have a key to Johnny’s house? Are you two lovers?” She asked in an extremely serious tone of voice.

  


Yuta made an obnoxious gagging voice at the notion of him and Johnny being anything but friends. “No!” Yuta spat. Sure, Johnny was his best friend, but Yuta would rather get pepper sprayed than think of him in any way besides platonic. “I’d never date him.”

  


“Sounds like something someone would say about their lover.” Hana murmured with an amused smirk on her face. Yuta merely rolled his eyes. 

  


There was comfortable silence for the rest of the car ride. That happened often with the Nakamoto siblings. They were perfectly fine just being around each other, enjoying each others company and not needing to exchange words to know the mutual care they had for each other. 

  


Yuta loved it. How they could talk for hours or sit in silence for hours and have just as much fun either way. 

  


They drove for a couple more minutes before Yuta pulled into Johnny’s driveway. And somehow, he instantly felt alleviated from so much of his stress. Johnny’s house honestly felt more like home than Yuta’s house did. Johnny had the kindest, most welcoming family. They loved having people in their house so much that half the year they had exchange students from anywhere and everywhere in their house. They were the definition of accomodating.

  


And while being extremely kind, the Seo family was also  _ ridiculously  _ rich. Their house was a sensible size, not as big as a mansion, but more than an average middle class family. However, they could buy just about anything whenever they wanted. In fact, the sheer amount of clothing that Johnny owned never failed to amaze Yuta. He had just about every single luxury brand and could afford anything he didn’t already own. 

  


But the Seo’s, they were generous. They helped out so constantly with charities and the less fortunate that it was difficult to get mad at them for being so wealthy. Especially when Johnny was seemingly this perfect man with perfect looks and a perfect personality.

  


Yuta would be lying if he said he didn’t envy Johnny. 

  


As Yuta parked his car, he sighed and glanced down at his red and already bruising hands. God, this along with the bruises on his stomach would be hard to cover. Thank God this family knew and understood. Yuta was thankful to the adrenaline somehow still coursing through his veins, so that he wasn’t in excruciating pain just yet.

  


Yuta knew that this time was different from all the other times he’d seeked asylum at Johnny’s house. He’d done it many times before, with Hana before, too. But this time was different. They weren’t going back.

  


“Are you okay?” Hana asked, interrupting Yuta’s thoughts. He glanced over at her. He blinked for a second. 

  


“Yeah. Just… scared I guess.” Yuta answered. He didn’t know why he was scared. He knew that his dad wouldn’t be rushing to get them back anytime soon. However, he considered the fact that he may still be scared to get in trouble. Or, even worse, for Hana to get in trouble.

  


“Well, being scared won’t do any good. We have school tomorrow.” Hana sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car to collect her stuff. Yuta scoffed in his seat. She had that ability to make a serious situation feel like nothing. 

  


Yuta got out of the car and started grabbing his things. He threw his duffle bag over his shoulder and used his other hand to help Hana with her stuff.

  


The two began trudging around the Seo’s house until they reached the back, where Johnny’s window was. Yuta peered up, hoping that Johnny was maybe awake and cramming for a test the next day. However, there were no lights on. Yuta resorted to his last option. 

  


He set his bag down on the ground. He reached forward into the little garden section of their backyard, and grabbed a handful of pebbles. He stepped back a few steps, and looked over to where Hana was staring at him with skepticism written all over her face.

  


“Are you sure you’ll wake him up with that?” She doubtfully asked. “You have terrible hand-eye coordination.”

  


Yuta glared at her, sticking his tongue out. “Yes, actually, I can.” 

  


Hana raised her brow. “Alright, Mr. Couldn’t-Make-It-On-The-Baseball-Team.”

  


Yuta ignored her, and instead focused on pelting one of the pebbles directly at Johnny’s window. The first shot hit the glass  _ extremely _ hard, to the point where even Yuta was surprised at his own strength. Hana gasped and then broke into laughter.

  


“Are you trying to shatter the fucking window?” Hana snickered. Yuta ignored her snarky remarks again, instead focusing his eyes on Johnny’s window to see if he could catch a sight of any sort of movement.

  


A few more seconds passed, and Yuta was already dreading having to throw even more pebbles up there. However, a lamp in Johnny’s room came on, and Yuta decided God was real. 

  


“Hell yes.” Yuta murmured, setting down the rest of the pebbles in his hand and going closer the window to see Johnny come and open it.

  


Yuta, expecting Johnny’s half-asleep face to pop up, and flick him off, and then go let him in through the front door, was extremely shocked to see who actually appeared in the window. 

  


Instead of Johnny, it was Ten. As if that wasn’t confusing enough to Yuta’s exhausted mind, Ten was also shirtless. And Yuta immediately threw his hand over his face in exasperation, knowing exactly what a shirtless Ten in Johnny’s room at three in the morning meant.

  


“Dang!” Hana called. “Johnny’s getting some!” 

  


Yuta looked up again at the window, to see Ten calling Johnny over. And then Johnny appeared, shirtless as well, and Yuta literally wanted nothing more than to vomit at the thought of interrupting Ten and Johnny having sex. 

  


Johnny unlocked the window and pulled it up, a confused and extremely annoyed look across his face. “This better be good or I’m beating your fucking ass.” Johnny whisper-yelled down there. 

  


Yuta sighed. “My dad.” He simply said, motioning over to Hana. Johnny looked over and saw Hana, and immediately his face softened in realization. 

  


“Are you guys okay?” Johnny asked. Yuta sighed. The answer to that, ultimately, would be,  _ ‘No, and I don’t think I’ll ever be okay.’  _ However, Yuta gave the same answer he always did.

  


“Doing just fine.” Yuta made sure the sarcasm was heavy this time. “Can we come in and sleep though?” He added, seriously.

  


“Yeah, I’ll come let you in, let me put pants on.” Johnny said, and it took everything in Yuta not to gag at that. Johnny turned away, but then looked back down as if he remembered something. “Shit. We have a new exchange student who got here today. You won’t be able to sleep in the guest room.”

  


“You guys had sex the day a new exchange student moved into your house?” Hana incredulously asked. Yuta scrunched his face up in disgust. Why were they  _ still  _ talking about it?

  


“I’ve got needs.” Ten quickly interjected. Hana nodded respectfully at that. Yuta hated how well those two got along, it was kinda really annoying.

  


“He doesn’t speak Korean that well, we’re fine.” Johnny shrugged as he threw a shirt on. 

  


“Love is a universal language.” Ten said with a smirk on his face, laying a hand on Johnny’s chest. 

  


“I’m going to vomit.” Yuta warned. 

  


“Okay, okay, I know you hate love, but they’re  _ cute _ !” Hana sighed, looking up at them in the window with a smile on her face. 

  


“I don’t  _ hate  _ love!” Yuta defended himself, absolutely despising anytime anyone brought up this subject. He didn’t hate love, he just hated any form of intimacy. Mainly romantic affection was the worst, but sometimes he found himself unable to even tell his closest friends that he loved them. He had no clue why, just the mere thought of showing affection made him sick to his stomach.

  


“Kang Seulgi kissed you at 8th grade homecoming and you  _ left _ ! You were her ride and you left!” Johnny retorted, sending Ten and Hana into a fit of laughter.

  


Yuta buried his face in his hands at the memory of that night. He was so uncomfortable that he just walked out of the school’s gym and called his mom to come get him. It was only a few weeks before she died. He had cried in her arms for almost 2 hours. He was mortified.

  


“Okay, okay, we get it. Can you just let us in?” Yuta sighed. 

  


Johnny turned away from the window and began to walk away, and Hana and Yuta grabbed their bags and walked around to the front of the house. For some reason, this felt like a rite of passage for Yuta, symbolizing the huge step he and Hana were taking by leaving their house. Or maybe Yuta was reading too much into him. He didn’t know. He was exhausted and just had the shit beat out of him, he wasn’t exactly thinking straight.

  


Johnny  _ finally  _ let them in, and it was almost humorous how the group of them tiptoed back up the stairs, trying desperately not to wake up those in Johnny’s house. (Even though Johnny and Ten had the courage to try and have sex at 3 in the fucking morning. Seems like a challenge, Yuta shrugged to himself.) 

  


At the top of Johnny’s staircase, to the left, there was a closed door to what was the guest room. Johnny’s guest room was such a comfortable escape for Yuta, as he slept in there so often when he needed an escape from his life. However, with Yuta’s luck, he couldn’t sleep in there the one day he needed a real escape. Stupid exchange student.

  


“Who’s this exchange student, anyways?” Yuta whispered to Johnny as they walked down the hallway to the right, towards the upstairs lounge where they would be sleeping. 

  


“His name is Sicheng. He’s Chinese. Kinda quiet, but cute.” Johnny whispered back. Yuta nearly rolled his eyes at the sheer amount of annoyance he had at the fact that this exchange student would mess up the flow of things. 

  


“Yuta-san, maybe you’ll like him!” Hana said teasingly, nudging her brother’s shoulder. He simply scoffed, playfully pushing her away. 

  


Johnny, Hana, and Yuta at last stepped into the lounge, a place that was like a sanctuary to Yuta. Since Johnny’s house was the party house, all of Yuta’s friends basically spent half their time in this lounge. Yuta had so many fond memories of the room. Yuta remembered sitting on that couch, biting a hole in Johnny’s pillow, trying not to scream out in pain, as Kun gave him his 95 tattoo. Yuta remembered playing Just Dance on the TV and Doyoung throwing the controller perfectly into Ten’s face. Yuta remembered almost peeing himself laughing with Jaehyun and Johnny as Mark got tipsy for the first time. Yuta remembered so many good, amazing things that maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.

  


Hana collapsed for a moment on to one of the couches, letting out a deep breath. “I’m about to  _ shleep _ like I’ve never slept before!” She hummed, gripping on to one of the throw blankets on the couch. 

  


“Make yourself at home, Hana.” Johnny nodded, setting her bag to the side of the couch she was on. She stood up, patting Johnny on the shoulder and thanking him before announcing to the whole room that she was using the bathroom. 

  


Yuta, finally and with relief, dropped his duffle bag at the bottom of one of the couches, turning around to face Johnny. “Seriously. Thank you so much.” He murmured. 

  


Johnny nodded before leaning in to say something to him. “Alright, you’re living with me, you need to do me a favor now.”

  


Yuta widened his eyes. Johnny’s favors were always… interesting to say the least. (Yuta would never forget the time Doyoung borrowed Johnny’s hair straightener and the favor he owed Johnny was to help him counsel Mark and Donghyuck’s relationship.) Nonetheless, Yuta nodded.

  


“So, you know our dear drug-dealing friend,” Johnny began.

  


“The incredible Jung Jaehyun.” Yuta finished. Jaehyun had, impressively, been a drug dealer since he was a freshman. The friend group had all known each other before Jaehyun’s drug dealing endeavors, but a guy’s gotta make money, so they respected it. In fact, it was quite helpful to have a drug dealing member of the friend group when pretty much the whole friend group smoked weed. Like, a lot of weed.

  


“Well, adorable little Jaehyunie needs a mule to sell his drugs to his family friends without them knowing he’s the one selling, so they won’t be able to blackmail him.” Johnny said with a mock adorable voice and expression. Yuta stared, dull eyes at this notion.

  


“So you’re telling me I gotta sell drugs for Jaehyun?” Yuta asked. Johnny hummed in response. Yuta pondered for a moment. Either be homeless, or live with Johnny and be Jaehyun’s drug mule… the latter didn’t seem too bad. 

  


“I guess I can. But why can’t you do it?” Yuta asked. Usually, Johnny was that kinda guy to help with a random drug deal, he was known as being willing to do pretty much anything for pretty much anyone. 

  


“You see, the ‘family friends’ are Kim Taehyung and his friends and they’re on the basketball team with me and I really don’t want them to get mad if I make a bad play and tell Coach Park and get me expelled.” Johnny explained. _ That  _ explained why. Kim Taehyung and his friends were, to put it lightly, huge assholes. Any opportunity to ruin someone else’s life, they took and ran with it. 

  


Yuta sighed. “Alright. Fair deal. Are the boys coming over tomorrow?” 

  


Johnny nodded vigorously. “They’re not going to miss our dear Na Yuta’s birthday party, now are they?” He chuckled, reaching out a ruffling Yuta’s hair like some older brother. Yuta laughed and pushed him off.

  


Hana busted back into the room, going over and collapsing onto the coach. “Can you guys stop talking about your weird illegal dude stuff so I can sleep in peace?”

  


Yuta looked over. “How do you know it’s illegal?” Not that he had to hide illegal things from his sister, just at her weird sixth sense about everything.

  


Hana scrunched her nose. “Not to attack Johnny’s house or anything, because he is graciously letting us stay here, but it smells like a literal forest of hemp in here. I don’t see how you two could be weirdly murmuring about anything that wasn’t weed.”

  


Johnny shrugged, and then he nodded in agreement. “Doyoung and I soaked everything with febreze but I guess it didn’t work. I gotta get on that.” 

  


Yuta, with his head starting to pound, began to get comfortable on his couch until Johnny got the message that it was bedtime. 

  


“Well, goodnight Nakamoto’s!!” Johnny said as if he was a mother tucking children in. “I gotta get back to Ten.” He added, with an exaggerated wink. 

  


Hana laughed at that, while Yuta made gagging noises and said, “If I hear as much as  _ one  _ sex noise, I am killing myself.” 

  


Johnny laughed, before blowing Yuta a kiss and turning and leaving the lounge. 

  


In the silence following Johnny leaving, Yuta let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He looked around just to get some sort of grasp on reality. His life had changed already just within the last 2 hours. It was demented, the way his father had mistreated them and the fact that Yuta had some odd urge telling him that he had to go back. 

  


“I love you.” Hana murmured. Yuta smiled to himself. Hana was here. The one who understood the most, even if it wasn’t his home, it was close enough for him to seek refuge in her company.

  


“I love you too, Hana-chan. Get some sleep.”

  


Yuta waited until he heard Hana’s breathing slow, knowing she was asleep. He took so much comfort in knowing she was resting, now safely. 

  


Yuta rolled over. He sighed for the thousandth time tonight. He hoped, he prayed, that maybe escaping to Johnny’s house would help him find somewhere he belonged. If not, it was at least one step closer.

  


Yuta let sleep take over. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is bliss!

**Author's Note:**

> Woooo!! My second fic on here, which I will probably end up working on whenever I am procrastinating writing the other fic! Anyways, this will probably be hella long so strap in! I'm also not the best at updating, so I apologize in advance. Okay!! Well, if you read all of this, I hope you enjoyed! Feedback is bliss.


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